Brake for planetary drives



C. W. HOWARD BRAKE. FOR PLANETARY DRIVES Feb. I 5, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Jan. 5, 1949 wk on m m V Feb. 5, 1952 c. w. HOWARD 2,584,454

BRAKE FOR PLANETARY muvzs Filed Jan. 5, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Inventor Charles W. Howard WWW Patented Feb. 5, 1952 --;g;g4,45 BRAKEFortrtAmman?-pawns:1 Charles W.Howard,rE-ranklin', Ohio Application-January 5, 1949, Serial No. 69,378 Y This invention relates: to 'new-- and"i1seful' V provements and structural refinementsin torquc 'j converters; and the "principal object' of thein i vention is to provide whatm'ay-be referredte as a tension regulating drive forwinding devices,

which will assure that the proper amount'flofr,

tension is-applied to a strip of material while 7 it is being'wound upon a roll; notwithstanding thev progressively increasing diameter of? the roll which'is incidentato the winding operation;

In particular, the invention is primarily-intendedfor'use in association with paper-manufacturing orr papercoating machines wherein-a common source or power is employed" for driving I the-machine as awhole and thewinding device thereof,"theinventionbeing adapted to impart a positi-ve; properly tensioned drive to the wind ing -device regardless of the roll diameter; while the source of power or prime mover operates at a constant speed.

An important feature ofthe-invention resides in the provision of means for; ore-adjusting; the

tension which is tobe applied to-"the: material being wound, which means'may be readjustedif 'required at any time "during-the winding operation;

Some of the advantages of the invention-die in itssimplicity of construction, in its adapt'abill ity for versatile use in various-"branches of P the, torque converting art, and in its adaptability to economicalmanufacture. 1 I

With the above more-important objects-and features in View, and such other objectsend featuresas may become apparent 'as this speci fication proceeds, the invention consistsressen tially "of 'the' arrangement and constructionv of parts as' illustrated in s the accompanying "drawing's, in which:- w Figure "1 is atop plan' view showing a portion ofa paper making or paper coating machine-in? eluding a Winding device and 'illustratin'g'the invention is association therewith; v Figure 2 'is-aside ele'vational view' of the sub. ject shown in Figure 1;

Figure-3 is a cross sectional view of. chainvention per-se, and; f

Figure 4' is a perspective view"of a friction disc used in the invention:

Like'characters" of reference are employed-t0 designate" like parts in the specificatiorr and throughout the 'several vie'wsr' Referrin now to the accompanying drawing-in detail, the'general reference character IU de'signates a paper making or-apap'er coating machine of' 'any conventional type," wherehrastrip' of material: I2 is processed by passing 'over-a plu ralityof'rollers l4, l6; etc: and travelling through a-coating bath- I 8; orathe like, :so that eventually the-finished: product is delivered-to Winding deviceflflwhere it-is' to be wound.upons.asuit able spindle, OI-T011122 Themachine I0 lsdriven by asuitableznmotor 24 through the medium of. suitable gearing -26; and the-instant invention assumes: the io'rm of a" tension regulating drive idesignatedgenerally by thereference "character" 2 8; Which is employed for transmitting the torque from the motor to the winding spindle or core 22.

The-tension regulating drive 2831s contained in a'suitable hou'sing 30 Whichiis provided with anti-friction bearings 32', 34 to accommodate: ;a

driven-shaft 3ii anda spindle- 38- respectively;

the driven shaft35- being connectedbymeans of =a -suitab1e coupling to'the winding: shaft or spindle-'22, asindicated in Figure 1.

A'transversely extending partition '42: iSi.pl'O- vide'dirr the housing 30, and isequippedtwithan' additiona'l anti-friction bearing M to: accom-' modate the spindle 38, and it is'torbenotedithat the inner end of the :spindle .38. carries a :still further bearing 46' which is mounted in aeircular rawn formed integrally at the inner end :of'

thedriven shaft. 36, whereby additional" sup-'1 port for-the latter is facilitated:

It 5110mm ofcourse; be understood that the shaft 36" andspindle--38 areaxiallyaligned, and itis to be'noted that an epicyclic gear train designated" generallyby '-'the reference character is provided for-operatively connecting thisshaft and spindle so that they may rotate at inverselyproportional and 'variable rates of speed. This epicyc'licgear train involves the provision of" a case 52'which isrotatably mounted by" means of anti-friction bearings 54', 56- -onthe driven shaft 35*and' is" provided with an internal, annular gear 58 meshing witha plurality of pinions "60 which; irrturn; mesh with a further, central pinion 62""secured to the spindle 38. The pinions 66'- 'are freely rotatable'on suitable stub shafts 64 projecting 'laterally from the aforementioned p1ate"48-,-and*it will be observedthat the case 52 also "carries an annularbevel gear '66' which meshes with a bevel pinioniB secured toa drive ently' rotatable," and "it will be apparent ironr the foregoing that when rotation of the shaft I is imparted through the mediurn of the gearing 68, 66 to the epicyclic gear train 50, the epicyclic gear train will function in a differential manner, so to speak, so that the shaft and the spindle 38 may be rotated at inversely proportional and variable rates of speed and any tendency to restrict the rotation of the spindle 38 will result in the transmission of correspondingly increased transmission of torque through the driven shaft 36.

It will be also apparent that by varying the restricting force on the spindle 38, the torque transmitted through the driven shaft 36 may be altered and the tension exerted by the windin spindle 22 on the material may be corre spondingly regulated.

Therefore, means are provided for adjustably resisting rotation of the spindle 38, these means involving the provision of a pair of primary gears 16,18 which are secured to the spindle 38 and constantly mesh with respective; secondary gears 88, 82 which are freely rotatable and longitu'dinally slidable on a stationary countershaft 84. One end portion of this countershaft is securely pressed in a boss 86 provided on the aforementioned partition 42, and it is to be noted that the countershaft extends outwardly from the housin 36 through a bearing sleeve 88 and that the outer end portion of the countershaft is screw-threaded as at 90 to receive an internally screw-threaded hub 92 of an adjusting hand wheel 94.

The hub 92 of the hand wheel 94 is rotatably and slidably disposed in a suitable aperture formed in the bearing sleeve 88 andan end thrust bearing 96 is provided immediately adjacent the inner end of the hub, as is shown in Figure 3. A compression spring 98 is positioned on the outer, diametrically reduced portion I00 of the countershaft 84, one end of this springpressing against the anti-friction bearing 96 while its remaining end bears against a pressure exerting member I02 which is slidable in an aperture I04 with which the housing 30 is provided.

If desired, a suitable oil seal I86 may be provided around the member I02, and in addition, removable grease retainers I08, IIO may be provided on the housing 38 in the region of the respective bearings 32, 34, as will be clearly apparent. The aforementioned secondary gears 80,82 are freely and independently rotatable on the countershaft 84, this being facilitated by the provision of anti-friction bearings H2, H4 in the respective gears 88, 82, and a friction disc H6 is secured by suitable screws H8 to the gear 82, this being effected by providing the disc with a substantially large central opening I20 to freely accommodate the countershaft 84 andwith a plurality of apertures I22 to receive the screws I I8, as best shown in Figure 4. l ,The disc I I6 is frictionally engageable with the remaining secondary gear 80, and a pair of endthrust bearings I24, I26 are disposed on the countershaft 84 between the gear 8|] and the partition 42 and between the gear 82 and the pressure exerting member I02, substantially as shown in Figure 3. i

It should be explained at this point that the ratio of the gears 16, 80 is different from that of the-gears I8, 82, and since thegears I6, 18 are rigidly secured to the spindle 38 and rotate at the same speed, the gears 86, 82 are therefore driven at different speeds with respect of one to the other. To illustrate this point further, the gear I6 may have one more tooth than the gear 18, the gears I6 and 88 may have an equal number of teeth while the gear 82 may have one more tooth than either of the gears 16, 86, that is, two more teeth than the gear 18. This example of tooth arrangement is given, of course, for illustrative purposes only, since any gear ratios may be used. However, the example will serve to illustrate that the gear 88 will rotate at a faster speed than the gear 82 when the gears I8, 78 rotate in unison, and as a result, a certain amount of slippage will exist between the friction disc H6 and the gear 86, as will be readily apparent.

Accordingly, when rotation is imparted to the drive shaft 10 and the hand wheel 94 is loosened so that the spring 98 does not exert any substantial pressure to frictionally engage the disc II6 with the gear 88, the gears 80, 82 will be free to rotate at different speeds and the entire torque transmitted through the epicyclic gear train 56 will be delivered to the spindle 38 while very little effort, if any, will be made to rotate the driven shaft 36. However, as the hand wheel 84 is tightened and the amount of friction between the disc I I8 and. the gear 88 is increased, the frictionally controlled slippage between the disc and the gear 88 will tend to restrict the rotation of the spindle 88 and'more and more torque will be delivered to the shaft 36 through the epicyclic gear train 58, in proportion to the tightening of the hand Wheel 94.

In this manner, the amount of tension exerted upon the material I2 during winding may be, varied as required by the grade, weight or condition of the material, this adjustment being either preset before 1 the winding operation is commenced, or reset at any time during the progress. thereof. However, in any event, the epicyclic gear train 50 will assure that proper tension of material is being maintained throughout the winding operation, notwithstanding the diameter oithe roll which, of course, increases as the winding proceeds. In other words, the tension of the material is regulated automatically during the winding operation b the epicyclic gear train 50, while the purpose of the manual adjusting means controlled by the hand wheel 94 is to preadjust or readjust the tension in accordance with the physical characteristics of the material being wound. v

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure, and accordingly, furtherdescription thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, claimed as new is:

In a planetary gear type variable speed drive, the combination of a spindle, a stationary countershaft, a pair of primary gears secured to said spindle, a pair of secondary gears slidable and independently rotatable on said countershaft and meshing with the respective primary gears, the ratio of the meshing primary and secondary gears in one set being different from that in the other set whereby said secondary gears are rotated atdifferent speeds, a friction disc secured to one of thesecondary gears and engageable what is with the other secondary gear, an end portion of REFERENCES CITED Sald countersl'mft 126mg screw threaded and The following references are of record in the means for urgmg sald secondary gears together, file of this patent: said means comprising a pressure exerting mem ber slidable on the countershaft and engaging 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS one of the secondary gears, a screw-threaded Number Name Date control element rotatable on the screw-threaded 1,494,065 Grafstrom May 13, 1924 portion of the countershaft, and a compression 1,996,815 Kimpton et a1. Apr. 9, 1935 spring interposed between said element and said 2,106,603 Jacques Jan. 25, 1938 pressure exerting member. in FOREIGN PATENTS CHARLES W. HOWARD. b r C n ry Da 741,044 France Feb. 4, 1933 

